Kochi, July 1:The Kerala High Court on Tuesday expressed its displeasure over the slow pace of the CBI probe into the suspected rape and murder case of Sister Abaya, a Catholic nun, in Kottayam in 1992. The court observed that the delay supports the petitioner’s allegation that external pressures are hampering the probe.

High Court Judge V Ramkumar made the observation when the CBI counsel submitted an interim probe report after Abaya’s father Aikkarakunnel Thomas sought the court’s direction for the CBI to conduct its investigation on the basis of the narco-analysis tests conducted on two priests and a nun.

Asking the CBI to expedite the investigation, the court observed, “Being the premier investigating agency in the country, the CBI has the responsibility to maintain its credibility.” CBI DySP R K Agarwal was also present when the report was submitted to the court in a sealed cover.

The report, it has been learnt, states that the nun was bludgeoned to death and that clear indications about the killer have emerged following the narco-analysis tests.

CBI has faced the wrath of the Kerala High Court and the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam, several times in the past over its failure to make a breakthrough in the case. CBI, which has to file a progress report of its investigations every three months in keeping with the direction of the High Court, had filed the same in June before the court of the chief judicial magistrate. The agency had also submitted the narco analysis report in the magistrate court in May, 2008.

The body of 21-year-old Abaya was found in the well of Pius-X convent in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. The Kerala police had written off the case as being that of a suicide.

Later, CBI took up the investigation at the behest of the court.

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